Weekly Wrap Up: A Good Kind of Busy

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Our leek harvest, waiting to be put into the freezer.

In our life this week…

Schoolwork, organizing books, and going out way more than normal.  On Tuesday we picked up some second hand bookshelves, Wednesday was the older girls’ math competition. Thursday we attended a local Veteran’s Day, and Friday we headed off to soccer.  It was a good kind of busy, though.

And we’re doing the last push on the harvest.  Sauerkraut, potatoes, kale, leeks and high bush cranberries.  One or two more busy days and we’re finished, and I’m really trying to minimize the impact on our homeschooling.

In our homeschool …

Although we did a fair amount of bookwork, this week’s learning highlights were anything but routine.

Miss 11 is busy writing a novel for NaNoWriMo.  Very busy.  The first day she wrote for hours and then wandered around like a lost puppy, explaining that her mind was too empty and tired to do anything else.  The next day she did research and watched lots of pioneer videos about farming because her novel is about a farming family in the past.  I’m trying to insist on math most days, but when your mind is empty from writing, there’s no hope of thinking about fractions!  Miss 11 has come to the conclusion that it is easier to read a book than to write one.

Miss 13 and Miss 15 wrote a math competition this week.  Writing a 2 ½ hour exam is a good experience, as is stretching to think beyond your current ability.  Both of them learned about math and problem solving as they prepared for this exam, and both of them also learned about perseverance.  Of course, they had the rest of the week off from math.

When we attended a Veteran’s Day at a local mall, we learned so much about the past as well as the present.  The girls all spoke with different veterans, sharing in their past experiences and, inevitably, they ended up talking about homeschooling too.  We met so many amazing people, many of whom risked their lives for others.  True heroes.

And Miss 13 helped me make sauerkraut after the math test.

In our garden…

Although most of the week we picked food just for supper, we also harvested potatoes and leeks.

In our gluten free kitchen… More kale stamppot, with ham this time.  Applesauce bread.  Breaded chicken.  Lots of different squashes.  Ham and pineapple.  Baby potatoes.  Salmon asparagus bisque.  Beef and gravy pasta. Bread.  Sauerkraut.  Corn bread.

Some of my favorite things were…

• Watching the girls blossom in their learning.
• Yummy food.
• Anticipating eating the sauerkraut that we just started.
• Spending time with friends.
• Reading peacefully while the girls played soccer.  Usually I run around madly doing groceries.

Questions/thoughts I have…Organizing bookshelves is like remodeling a kitchen.  It always leads to more changes than you originally planned.

Fitness… Again, I walked about 10,000 steps most days.  I’m easing into the knee exercises, doing half the recommended repetitions every second day, and that seems to be about the right pace for me.

Some of the things I’ve been working on…

• Schoolwork.
• Organizing books and bookshelves and everything that leads to, like desks, files, and rooms.
• Catching up on reviews.
• Freezing leeks.

We’re watching…  The older children watched Thor with a group of friends.  I’m uncertain about this, but my husband says it’s OK.  We’ve also been watching a documentary called O Canada, and the BBC’s delightfully silly Jeeves and Wooster.  However, I’ve just realized that the British blaspheme differently than Americans…and now I’ve noticed that these movies are full of taking the Lord’s name in vain.  Why is everything pleasant spoiled in some way?  My husband pointed out Satan loves to spoil good things.

I’m reading… Isaiah.   I have just finished Innovation’s Dirty Little Secret and Your Body’s Many Cries for Water, and am reading Why Christ Came and The Story of Canada.

Reading Aloud… We’re still reading Psalms at the table.  We finished Luther the Leader and are also reading William of Orange, the Silent Prince which takes place around the same time.  Emperor Charles V figures in both of them. We are also still reading the second volume of In de Zoete Suikerbol.

When my husband is home for meals we read Romans.

I’m grateful for …. Restoring sleep after busy days.

Quote or link to share….

• “Trust in the Lord with all your heart…and do not rely on your own insight….” Proverbs 3.
• Charlotte Mason’s goals for age six, and a good reason to memorize poetry.

This post is linked to Kris’s Weekly Wrap Up . and Hammock Track’s Homeschool Review and Resources Link-Up.